The purposes of this study were (1) to determine what personal traits and professional qualities school officials seek in their duties of employing industrial arts teachers; (2) to determine what personal traits and professional qualities the industrial arts teacher educators believe to be most important for their students to possess upon completion of their formal education; and (3) to determine what type of appraisal form is considered most helpful by school officials and college educators.

Is it possible that the Bender-Gestalt (B-G) protocol of an individual is complex of many different, discrete, perceptual tests? Is it possible to find the relationships among the scoring factors for the B-G and by factor analysis find some systematic order among the individual designs useful in predicting specific behavioral propensities? If a consistent relationship can be shown to exist between scorable deviations on the B-G designs and certain personality variables among individuals, then perhaps a start can be made toward predictive validity of the B-G.

The present research sought to firstly, understand the role of personality traits in the field of work motivation, to understand the relationship between these variables and to understand if personality traits could attempt to predict sources of work motivation. Thereafter, the relationship between the locus of control construct and intrinsic and extrinsic work motivation, respectively, was investigated. The secondary foci were to investigate the relationship between the demographic variables of age, race and field of work, respectively, and source of motivation. The current research used existing work motivation theories as a basis for understanding and explaining the construct of work motivation and used trait theory as a background to understand personality. Individuals from various fields, engaged in full-time work, were the sample for this research. Lecturers from various faculties at the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as, individuals in different fields of work, outside of the University, was the sample of the research. The final sample consisted of 61 individuals. Significant positive relationships were found between intrinsic work motivation and socially proper behaviour, and between extrinsic work motivation and self-discipline. While a significant negative relationship was found between intrinsic work motivation and tension. Furthermore, it was found that sensitivity and self-discipline appear to be predictors of extrinsic work motivation. Sensitivity and socially proper behaviour were positive predictors of intrinsic work motivation, while, the personality trait of being tense and conservative was found to be negative predictors of intrinsic work motivation. In addition, significant positive relationships were found between locus of control and sources of motivation while no significant relationships were found between the demographic variables and work motivation.

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Peter Tellez

I explore the genetic and environmental basis of inheritance using modern techniques, in particular high-density genotyping arrays, and older techniques, in particular family history, to explore some longstanding questions about the way we inherit complex traits. Using pedigree data and the parent-offspring regression technique, I estimate narrow sense heritability (h2) of human lifespan in 20th Century Scotland as 0.16, lower than commonly cited studies in other populations. I also observe similar concordance between spouses as between parents and offspring - suggesting my estimate of heritability may include significant within-family environment effects and thus should be considered an upper bound. Using genome-wide array data to identify runs of homozygosity, from 150 cohorts across the world and up to 350,000 subjects per trait, I show that cognitive function and body size are associated with the total length of genome-wide runs of homozygosity. Contrary to earlier reports in substantially smaller samples, no evidence was seen of an influence of homozygosity on blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits. An association between genome-wide homozygosity and complex traits arises due to directional dominance. Since directional dominance is predicted for traits under directional evolutionary selection, this study provides evidence that increased stature and cognitive function have been positively selected in human evolution, whereas many important risk factors for late-onset complex diseases have not. The analysis of less common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variants in genome-wide association studies promises to elucidate complex trait genetics but is hampered by low power to reliably detect association, whilst avoiding false positives. I show that addition of 100 population-specific exome sequences to 1,000 genomes global reference data allows more accurate imputation, particularly of less common SNPs (minor allele frequency 1–10%). The imputation improvement corresponds to an increase in effective sample size of 28–38%, for SNPs with a minor allele frequency in the range 1–3%. Inheritance of complex traits remains a field wide open for discovery, both in determining the balance between nature and nurture and discovery of the specific mechanisms by which DNA causes variation in these traits, with the prospect of such discoveries illuminating biological pathways involved and, as knowledge deepens, facilitating prediction.

Cultivation in the laboratory is essential for understanding the phenotypic characteristics and environmental preferences of bacteria. However, basic phenotypic information is not readily accessible. Here, we compiled phenotypic and environmental tolerance information for > 5,000 bacterial strains described in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM) with all information made publicly available in an updatable database. Although the data span 23 different bacterial phyla, most entries described aerobic, mesophilic, neutrophilic strains from Proteobacteria (mainly Alpha-and Gammaproteobacteria), Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes isolated from soils, marine habitats, and plants. Most of the routinely measured traits tended to show a significant phylogenetic signal, although this signal was weak for environmental preferences. We demonstrated how this database could be used to link genomic attributes to differences in pH and salinity optima. We found that adaptations to high salinity or high-pH conditions are related to cell surface transporter genes, along with previously uncharacterized genes that might play a role in regulating environmental tolerances. Together, this work highlights the utility of this database for associating bacterial taxonomy, phylogeny, or specific genes to measured phenotypic traits and emphasizes the need for more comprehensive and consistent measurements of traits across a broader diversity of bacteria. IMPORTANCE Cultivation in the laboratory is key for understanding the phenotypic characteristics, growth requirements, metabolism, and environmental preferences of bacteria. However, oftentimes, phenotypic information is not easily accessible. Here, we compiled phenotypic and environmental tolerance information for > 5,000 bacterial strains described in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM). We demonstrate how this database can be used to link bacterial taxonomy, phylogeny, or specific genes to measured phenotypic traits and environmental preferences. The phenotypic database can be freely accessed (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.472392), and we have included instructions for researchers interested in adding new entries or curating existing ones.

El gazapo engordado en explotaciones comerciales proviene de un cruzamiento a tres vías, y por tanto su madre (cruce de dos líneas maternales) aporta el 50% de sus genes y es necesario estudiar los caracteres de crecimiento y consumo de pienso de estos gazapos. Por otro lado, existen gran cantidad de estudios que demuestran que la carne de conejo es una carne con poca grasa, poco colesterol y un elevado contenido en proteina, por lo que se debe estudiar estas características se pueden ver afectadas estas como consecuencia de la mejora genética. / Mínguez Balaguer, C. (2014). Genetic Analyses of Growth, Carcass and Meat Quality Traits in Maternal Lines of Rabbits and Their Diallel Cross/ Análisis Genético de Caracteres de Crecimiento, Matadero y Calidad de Carne en Lineas Maternales de Conejo y en su Cruzamiento Dialélico [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/37981 / TESIS

The primary objective of the current study involved examining the influence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits on the aggressive behavior and criminal offending of female juveniles committed to a secure juvenile justice facility. A history of physical abuse was examined as a potential moderator of these relationships. The deviant behaviors of peers were examined with respect to the outcomes for the entire sample. A total of 63 female youth incarcerated at a Midwestern state correctional facility participated. Overall levels of callous-unemotional traits were not related to involvement in delinquent activities. However, specific aspects of CU traits were related to engagement in certain types of criminal behavior. Peer delinquency was related to self-reported engagement in criminal activities generally, as well as offenses against persons specifically. CU traits demonstrated significant relationships with measures of aggression, but no significant differences were found with respect to the relationship of CU traits with different types of aggression. Having a history of physical abuse was unrelated to levels of aggression and involvement in delinquency. These findings have implications for prevention and intervention programs in correctional settings and the community. However, potential problems with data collection and measurement of key variables are discussed. Additional research needs to be conducted to determine the mechanisms of the relationships found in this study.

This study sought to explore the differential associations of CU traits, narcissistic traits, and Machiavellian traits with overt aggression, relational aggression, delinquency, behavioral dysregulation, and emotional dysregulation in a community sample of boys and girls (ages 11-17). Results indicated that the three personality traits were significantly correlated with each other, yet distinct. CU traits, narcissistic traits, and Machiavellian traits demonstrated different unique associations with behavior problems. Specifically, narcissistic traits showed the strongest unique associations with overt aggression, relational aggression, behavioral dysregulation, and emotional dysregulation. CU traits showed the second strongest unique associations with overt aggression, delinquency and behavioral dysregulation, but were not associated with relational aggression or emotional dysregulation. Lastly, Machiavellian traits showed a strong unique association with emotional dysregulation, but were not uniquely associated with externalizing behavior problems. These findings have implications for intervention with aggressive and antisocial youth.

This study was part of a program to develop new genotypes of sheep (Ovis spp.) and goats (Capra spp.) which are more useful for food and fiber production. The study examined the influence of domestication on behavioral and physiological traits of ewes and lambs, the influence of a single or twin offspring on ewe and lamb behaviors, and general relationships between ewes and lambs during the lambs' first month of life. Domestication has caused the intensities of observed traits to diverge greatly from the tendencies shown by wild populations. Domestication has produced increases in measurements associated with maternal care, discovery learning, tolerance or inclination for closeness with conspecifics, length of the breeding season, fertility, birth weight, and growth rate. Behaviors associated with imitative learning have decreased with domestication. Domestication has not altered the length of estrous cycle nor length of gestation. The partly domestic groups were intermediate to the most domestic and wild groups for three traits: maternal care, birth weight, and growth rate. However, other hybridization factors apparently altered the intermediate position of the partly domestic groups for the remaining traits: learning in the young, proximity of conspecifics, and fertility. The study's findings indicated that the development of new crossbreeds is an advantageous method of improving sheep and goat productivity. Some behavioral differences between ewes and their single lambs and ewes and their twin lambs resulted from the earlier physical development of singles as compared to twins: Singles played more and spent less time close to their mothers. Mothering capacities, sibling competition, and a sibling bond caused behavioral differences between ewes and their twin young and ewes and their single young: Twins suckled more, gained less weight, spent more time close to their mothers, stood more, received less sniffing from their mothers than did singles. The ewe-lamb bond did not vary between ewes and their single lambs and ewes and their twin lambs. The high occurrence of simultaneous behaviors and the maintenance of close contact between ewes and their offspring and between twins contributed to the cohesion and organization of the flock.